The pacifist missionary makes a surprisingly effective observer of life on the other side of the world—and Caldwell inserts passages from his late wife’s diary to illustrate a different perspective on events, when he’s not. Don’t let the missionary’s point of view put you off, this is a book describing a half-century’s worth of cross-cultural encounters worth reading regardless of your religious views.

My only reservation is the regular appearance of a bandit, Hsiao Lao. He’s there for purposes of plot, not parable, but he arrives at too many opportune moments not to appear contrived.

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